Teracolus (Colotis) eris The Banded Gold Tip is a common and widespread butterfly that can be found in corners of all South Africa’s provinces. While reaching their highest densities in forest and savanna, they have a wide habitat tolerance, avoiding only succulent karoo, fynbos and mountain grasslands. They’re very fond of settling on flowers, fluttering […]
Banded Gold Tip Butterfly — de Wets Wild
Eronia cleodora The Vine-leaf Vagrant is a medium-sized butterfly with a wingspan of around 6cm (males are usually a bit smaller than the females). They fly fast and wandering, often settling quickly on flowers as they go. These beautiful butterflies may be seen year-round, though their numbers usually peak in spring and late summer. Their […]
Vine-leaf Vagrant Butterfly — de Wets Wild
Leptomyrina hirundo The Tailed Black-eye is a little butterfly – with a wingspan less than 3cm – that often goes unnoticed, despite being quite common where it occurs, which in South Africa is in the various kinds of forests and the bushveld savanna regions of the Eastern Cape, Kwazulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo. They’ll even visit […]
Tailed Black-eye Butterfly — de Wets Wild
BayNature reports On January 25, the Xerces Society reported a final monarch count of 247,237, a more than 100-fold increase over 2020 and the largest number since 2016. Read story at Western Monarchs Are Having a Boom Year – Bay Nature
Western Monarchs Are Having a Boom Year — Natural History Wanderings
This wonderful present came my way while I was taking a walk through Satara Rest Camp on Christmas Day last year when we were visiting the Kruger National Park for our summer holiday. Looking this butterfly up in my guide book i thought “What a beautiful name for a beautiful butterfly!” Common Mother-of-Pearl Butterfly Common […]
Satara Summer 2021 – Common Mother-of-Pearl Butterfly — de Wets Wild
Junonia oenone The outer (under) side of the Blue Pansy’s wings blends in so beautifully with its surroundings that when this butterfly opens its wings and flashes the bright blue, red and white markings on a black background on the inside (topside) of its 5cm wingspan, it often comes as quite a surprise, especially if […]
Blue Pansy Butterfly — de Wets Wild
San Luis Obispo Tribune reports Thousands of western monarch butterflies have returned to a Pismo Beach, California, grove to overwinter. The monarch population this year is larger than the last two years combined “We expect the numbers are going to keep going up,” a biologist said. Read story and see video at Pismo Beach monarch grove […]
Pismo Beach monarch grove sees butterfly count increase — Natural History Wanderings
Amauris ochlea The Novice is a foul-tasting butterfly that flies slowly and settles often on flowers and wilting plants. It inhabits forests and dense woodlands and the edges of these. Adults have a wingspan of 7cm and are on the wing throughout the year. In South Africa it is common along the Kwazulu-Natal coast and […]
Novice Butterfly — de Wets Wild
Hope for the Future, Forests of Hope.BirdLife International joins 20 leading conservation groups – the ‘WC20’ ahead of this weekend’s G20 Leaders’ Summit to warn that COVID-19 highlights need for urgent action – and urge that investing in nature costs a fraction of pandemic response, while driving green jobs and tackling climate change. Bird Life […]
Poem 26 Hope for the Forests of Hope. — NavasolaNature
Papilio dardanus Not only is the Mocker Swallowtail one of the biggest and most beautiful butterflies to be found in South Africa, but it can also be one of the most confusing! The males, also known as Flying Handkerchiefs, boast extravagantly shaped wings with striking black and cream-white markings, while the females are excellent at […]
The Flying Handkerchief / Mocker Swallowtail Butterfly — de Wets Wild
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